Squid Beaks Accumulate in Baird’s Beaked Whale Stomachs Like a Deep-Sea Archive

Its stomach can hold a graveyard of razor-sharp squid beaks.

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Scientists often identify deep-sea squid species by examining beaks recovered from stranded whales.

Baird’s beaked whales primarily feed on deep-sea squid, and the indigestible chitinous beaks of their prey can accumulate in the stomach before being regurgitated or passed, sometimes numbering in the hundreds.

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Each dive into the abyss can result in multiple squid captures, meaning over years a single whale may consume thousands of deep-sea cephalopods living far below sunlight penetration.

These beak accumulations provide researchers with rare physical evidence of deep-sea food webs, revealing predator-prey relationships occurring in ecosystems humans cannot directly observe.

Source

NOAA Fisheries

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